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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Interesante e informativo pero no me ha enganchado demasiado
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know quite how I feel about this book. The last 50 or so pages of this book feel like they aren't in line with everything that came before. Yusef, our protagonist, seems to have a huge personality shift. For the 90% before, I honestly forgot he was there half the time- everything happened around him, and sometimes he got swept up into it. And then all of a sudden- opinions! thoughts! reflections! acting of his own accord! And I can see where these shifts might have happened on his journey, but the reader never was privy to them until suddenly... they were there.
I know the author was trying to tell a specific story, but i don't think it landed for me. The ending of this book was a real "that's it?" moment. It's not that the ending doesn't work at all; the way the narrative is set-up makes the ending feel out of left field. I had to re-read the final paragraph twice, and then have a real think about what led us to that moment.
I know the author was trying to tell a specific story, but i don't think it landed for me. The ending of this book was a real "that's it?" moment. It's not that the ending doesn't work at all; the way the narrative is set-up makes the ending feel out of left field. I had to re-read the final paragraph twice, and then have a real think about what led us to that moment.
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994, Paradise is the story of Yusuf, a young East African boy who, at the age of 12, is essentially sold to a wealthy merchant by his father as a way to pay off his debts. At first, Yusuf is put to walk in a store but later travels with the merchant's caravan into the interior. It's a coming of age story with a side of adventure and explores themes like coming of age, family, identity, religion, tradition vs modernity, conflict, and colonialism. It did a great job at depicting time and place, social dynamics, and a way of life on the precipice of change and which has now long since gone. The cultural diversity in terms of religious and ethnic groups, including indigenous groups, migrant labour, and European colonists, was striking. The writing style and mode of storytelling did keep me at a distance. I was observing what was happening to Yusuf almost from a bird's eye view, rather than being fully invested in his fate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.4 den har skikkelig fint språk og jeg skjønner at den vant prisen men ikke min stil sadly, BUT I would recommend